Houghton harriers dominate at WestPAC meet
HOUGHTON — Conditions were ideal at the Tech Trails on Monday, and Gremlins’ cross country runner Tessa Rautiola took advantage of it. The junior harrier posted a personal best in her first-place finish at 19:11.6 and led her team to an almost perfect score of 18.
The Gremlins finished in the top four of five spots at the WestPAC meet. They won the first three and the fifth slots. Hancock’s Ella Keranen won the fourth position. Houghton’s fifth finisher, Noah Woodfuff came in seventh.
“I am super proud of my time,” said Rautiola. “I think I beat my time by at least 15 seconds (today). “We had perfect weather, and I ran like I always do.”
Behind the Gremlins’ girls were Negaunee at 68 points, and Hancock finished third with 82.
On the boys’ side Houghton’s Birk Seagren placed first with a time of 16:38.1 Teammate Ben Hemmer was behind him in second with a time of 16:54.9. The Gremlins placed first with a score of 28. Ishpeming-Westwood came in second at 58, and Negaunee finished third with a score of 88.
Seagren said he was pleased with his time and in fact did not think it would be that good.
“I really tried to pick it up on the downhills and run my fastest,” he related.
Hemmer noted that his teammate is hard act to follow – literally.
“Birk is a beast,” he said with a smile. “He sets a strong pace and is hard to keep up with.”
Gremlins coach Traci Welch was obviously proud of all her runners and her teams’ performances in this eight-team meet.
“Both teams have continued to gap/time between runners,” she noted. “Birk and Tessa ran like they always do. They come out strong and don’t stop till the finish.”
She added that Seagren and Rautiola were not the only two who impressed her on Monday.
“Norah (Woodruff) had a phenomenal run and has continued to improve over the season,” she stated. “As well, Roman (Trevino-Peterlin) Sela (Niska) and Lily (Ross) are a one-two-three-punch that are hard to beat.”
Trevino-Peterlin finished second (19:48.3). Niska placed third (19:55.0), and Ross took fifth 20:44.5.
For the Bulldogs, Ella Keranen and Rayna Towles took fourth and 10th overall. Coach Jennifer Smith was also pleased with the efforts of Emily Moore, Abby Bradway and Marie Thompson, who all placed as well.
On the boys’ side there was Houghton’s Anderson Linkemann.
“Anderson ran hard and has been pushing further up in the races,” stated Welch.
When asked if her squads were ready for UP Finals which are less than two weeks away, Welch responded with an emphatic “yes.”
“We are definitely feeling good about UP Finals,” she said.
For Hancock’s boys, Hunter LaCourt paced the Bulldogs, finishing 19th overall, and breaking the 20-minute mark. Curtis Archambeau took 23rd. Smith mentioned that Louis Carlson, Jayden Nuttall and Eli Wanhala all set new personal records.
The MHSSA cross country UP FINALS will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Pictured Rocks Gold Course in Munising.
UP NEXT
The WestPAC cross country finals are slated for Thursday at 4 p.m. at Westwood High school.